Interisle Consulting Group, the independent examiner performing the second review of the ICANN Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) has published its assessment report.

Read the report.

The Review Work Party and the independent examiner will meet at ICANN61 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The ICANN community is invited to attend this session and contribute to the feedback process. The session will take place on 14 March at 17:30 – 19:00 UTC (13:30 – 15:00 AST). More details, including remote attendance information, are available here.

About the Assessment Report

The goal of the assessment report is to achieve a maximum agreement between the wider ICANN community and the independent examiner as to which areas of the RSSAC work well and which may benefit from improvements. No recommendations are included in the assessment report. Recommendations will be included in the final report, expected for publication in July 2018.

Read the executive summary.

(Note: The executive summary will be translated into Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish in due course. Translated versions of the executive summary will be posted here as soon as they are available.)

Background

An independent review of the RSSAC is mandated by ICANN‘s Bylaws and is part of ICANN‘s commitment to its own evolution and improvement, accountability and transparency. Interisle Consulting Group was selected to perform the review and began its work in September 2017.

The purpose of the RSSAC2 Review is to determine (i) whether the RSSAC has a continuing purpose in the ICANN structure, (ii) if so, whether any change in structure or operations is desirable to improve its effectiveness and (iii) whether the RSSAC is accountable to its constituencies, stakeholder groups, organizations, and other stakeholders. The review will also assess the effectiveness of the improvements resulting from the previous RSSAC review, conducted in 2008. Visit the RSSAC Review page on ICANN.org to learn more about the review.

The RSSAC advises the ICANN Board and community on matters relating to the operation, administration, security, and integrity of the root server system, as outlined in its charter from the ICANN Bylaws. The RSSAC consists of representatives from the organizations responsible for operating global root name service. The RSSAC also consists of representatives of the organizations responsible for the maintenance of the authoritative root zone as non-voting members. Liaisons from external organizations and groups also participate as non-voting members. Learn more about the RSSAC.

About ICANN

ICANN‘s mission is to help ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address – a name or a number – into your computer or other device. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with a community of participants from all over the world.

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2018-02-27-en

ICANN is seeking a provider to conduct an independent assessment of the Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC). The provider should have technical knowledge in domain name or Internet server operations, or have experience working with the RSSAC or Root Server Operators. The provider should also have an understanding of the root server ecosystem and/or DNS protocol knowledge.

The objective of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to identify an independent examiner that can conduct a comprehensive assessment of RSSAC. This includes, but is not limited to:

• The continued purpose of RSSAC within the ICANN structure;
• How effectively RSSAC fulfills its purpose;
• Whether any change in structure or operations is needed; and
• The extent to which RSSAC as a whole is accountable to the wider ICANN community.

The review is scheduled to take place from September 2017 through June 2018. For a complete overview and timeline for the RFP, please see here [PDF 642 KB].

Indications of interest are to be received by emailing RSSACReview-RFP@icann.org. Proposals should be electronically submitted by 23:59 PDF on 10 July 2017 using ICANN‘s sourcing tool, access to which may be requested via the same email address as above.

Background

According to the ICANN Bylaws, the role of the Root Server System Advisory Committee (“Root Server System Advisory Committee” or “RSSAC“) is to advise the ICANN community and Board on matters relating to the operation, administration, security, and integrity of the Internet’s Root Server System. It shall have the following responsibilities:

1. Communicate on matters relating to the operation of the Root Servers and their multiple instances with the Internet technical community and the ICANN community. The RSSAC shall gather and articulate requirements to offer to those engaged in technical revision of the protocols and best common practices related to the operation of DNS servers.
2. Communicate on matters relating to the administration of the Root Zone with those who have direct responsibility for that administration. These matters include the processes and procedures for the production of the Root Zone File.
3. Engage in ongoing threat assessment and risk analysis of the Root Server System and recommend any necessary audit activity to assess the current status of root servers and the root zone.
4. Respond to requests for information or opinions from the Board.
5. Report periodically to the Board on its activities.
6. Make policy recommendations to the ICANN community and Board.

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2017-06-05-en

Since the most recent review, RSSAC has formed a Caucus for the experts responsible for producing its work. They have recently delivered two recommendations to the Board: RSSAC001, which set out some Service Expectations of Root Servers and RSSAC002, which is an advisory on Measurements of the Root Server System. RSSAC002 was published in late 2014 and RSSAC001 was published today, in coordination with RFC7720, which is a complementary IAB document about the Root Server System.

Public statement of how ICANN meets the expectations

ICANN operates L-Root, one of the 13 root DNS servers (www.root-servers.org) providing authoritative DNS information about Top Level Domains. We are pleased to say that L-Root meets all of the service expectations documented in RSSAC001 and we have published a simple web page that describes what we do for each of the sets of expectations. Our response provides links to authoritative information about the different aspects of our L-Root service, ranging from software selection, routing, site locations, and through to operational statistics.

Maintenance and updates

We constantly measure and review the way we deliver the L-Root service and plan and execute changes that make sure we can continue to deliver the high level of service required and expected of a root server. This means that we plan, test and deploy changes to the service in a structured way on an ongoing basis. Consequently, we will also be reviewing and updating our RSSAC001 response on a regular basis, to make sure that the public is well-informed about the way we go about delivering this important service. It is living web page and will be reviewed and updated at least twice a year.

What to know more or become involved in RSSAC?

If you are interested in finding out more about or participating in the RSSAC Caucus, you can read find out more on its website.

If you would like to learn more about L-root or even consider hosting an L-root instance in your own network, please see the DNS Engineering website or have a chat with one of our Global Stakeholder Engagement team.

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/blog/icann-s-response-to-rssac001-for-its-l-root-service

The Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) Review WG submitted its draft final report [PDF, 210 KB] for public comment on April 27 2010. On date of closure, June 5, no input had been provided in response to this report, with the exception of five off-topic entries.

In consideration of the response and following WG discussion, the RSSAC Review WG has now decided to release the draft document materially unchanged as the final WG review report [PDF, 235 KB].

As a consequence, note that translations of the draft WG report are valid for the final WG report:

This report is published pending Board consideration.

For further information, please refer to the RSSAC review web page.

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-15jun10-en.htm